Fire destroys historic Montreal building famed for Canada’s 1st film screening in 1896

The four-storey Robillard Building at 974 St-Laurent Blvd. A major fire today in Montreal’s Chinatown has gutted a historic building famed for hosting the first film screening in Canada. Montreal police are now investigating the cause of the fire, which was reported at 11:19 a.m. ET Thursday. at the corner of Viger Street West dates to the late 1800s and was vacant at the time of Thursday’s fire. “The smoke was as high as 100 metres, and at one point you could feel the heat,” he said. One witness, Robert Décarie, said the smoke and heat from the fire were intense. More than 50 vehicles and 120 firefighters responded to the five-alarm fire.